Up to this point, I had never baked cookies using pitted dates. I was a little sketchy at first but I'm always open to trying new ingredients. Especially when I looked into the many amazing health benefits of dates.

Health Benefits of Dates

When it comes to the number of minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients in dates, it's safe to say there are a lot of them. First and foremost, they're easily digested, allowing your body to make full use of their goodness.

Dietary fiber in dates helps to move waste smoothly through your colon and helps prevent LDL (bad) cholesterol absorption by binding with substances containing cancer-causing chemicals.

The iron content, a component of hemoglobin in red blood cells, determines the balance of oxygen in the blood. Potassium, an electrolyte, helps control your heart rate and blood pressure. B-vitamins contained in dates, such as the carotenes lutein and zeaxanthin, absorb into the retina to maintain optimal light-filtering functions and protect against macular degeneration. And dates also contain Vitamins A and K.

Copper, magnesium, manganese, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), niacin, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin are also present in dates and provide their own unique preventive and healing functions.

So now you can see why I was so open to making these Chocolate Chip Cookies with a new twist using dates!

These cookies are certainly worth trying! They are gluten free and dairy free (if you use dairy-free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life) and pack a sweet punch. Enjoy!

Servings: 12 Cookies